Book storage part 1

Well February is almost over and I’m really no further on with my organisation than I was at the beginning of the month – but I have made a step forward today by making J a book box to store our weekly books and some of his extra favourites that always seem to be out around the house.

J was and is still Frog mad – so when I found some fat quarters with frogs on at a recent craft fayre I had to buy them. Using a nappy box my Mum (thank you Nana) helped me to create a soft fabric box large enough to store his books in and by adding some handles it can also be moved around the house easily.

What I used to create the fabric book box

1 Nappy (Diaper) box
Some Batting
Spray repositionable Adhesive
5 Fat Quarters for the bottom and sides (with a lot of material left which I’m going to use to make a reading cushion for him next)
Some iron on interfacing
Poly-cotton Lining
Thread of matching colour
Cardboard for inside base

How I made the fabric book box

First I measured the sides of the box and then added 1inch (I’m not very accurate at cutting/sewing so more fabric is better) and cut out the 5 pieces for the outside of the box. I also cut out 4 pieces for lining for the inside of the box the same size at the outside edges and then a base for the inside of the box was 1 inch bigger on each side than the base of the outside of the box piece from the fat quarters.

Using spray adhesive outside we sprayed the outside of the box and added the batting to provide some padding to the box and cut it to size.

Using the iron on interfacing I lined each of the fabric pieces ready for sewing.

To create the inside base of the box I cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the inside of the box base – spray attached some of the batting, then covered with the lining and stuck in place on the other side pulling tight.

The outside of the box was made by pinning the 4 sides together (check the size that it fits, snug but not too tight) and then sewed it together. I did the same for the inside edges apart from left 1 side free to allow for adjustment of the inside. The base of the box was pinned in place and then everything sewed together. The box was slotted inside the fabric cube and then the inside lining sprayed into place and the base board inserted.

For the handles I am using buttons with some plastic handles that I have detached from our washing powder box.

This wasn’t an easy make like my No sew Tutu, feltboard or Bean Bags that I have featured so far – but I’m really pleased with the result and have brought some Russian doll fat quarters and co-ordinating fabric to make T a book box as well.

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Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, high school teacher and mum. Realising that life doesn’t have to be put on hold and you don’t just have to survive whilst the kids are young she shares ideas to inspire you to LIVE with the kids, with activities to do together, recipes to cook and enjoy and family travel to make memories to last a lifetime.

I love this idea! I have been looking at a surplus of diaper boxes and wondering how i could use them to house the babes toys. I was thinking of using scrap book paper, but this would probably be a bit more durable 🙂

I used to use them for toy storage but with being dragged around by crawling and toddling babies they didn’t last long – because this is fortified with padding and sewn into place it seems to be a lot more sturdy

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